South Korea’s Lotte Group to leverage Arbitrum blockchain for its metaverse
South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group has tapped the Ethereum layer 2 network Arbiturm to enhance its artificial intelligence-driven metaverse platform, Lotte Caliverse.
Announced at CES 2025, Arbitrum’s blockchain, with its 250ms block times, is described by Steven Goldfeder, CEO of Arbitrum developer Offchain Labs, as the “ideal home ground for Caliverse,” enabling “high-quality performance within virtual worlds and gaming experiences.”
Goldfeder added that the Arbitrum technology stack will provide users with a seamless and consumer-friendly experience, setting “a new standard for Arbitrum-based interactions in virtual worlds.”
Created in association with gaming industry giants like Epic Games, leveraging technologies like the Unreal Engine 5, the Lotte Caliverse offers a metaverse platform and features experiences like virtual shopping with real-world product deliveries, immersive K-Pop and electronic music concerts with stars like NMIXX and DJ ALOK, and interactive gaming experiences, including the newly announced “Caliverse: Invasion.”
The platform will feature brands from Lotte Group’s extensive portfolio, including Lotte Duty-Free, Lotte HiMart, and Lotte Cinema, alongside globally recognized names like Givenchy, MCM, L’Occitane, fresh, 7-Eleven, and the world-renowned electronic music festival, Tomorrowland.
Caliverse initially went live in August last year and is already available for users to experience, but the integration with Arbitrum will add crypto payments to the platform.
The latest development builds on Lotte Group’s strategic partnership with Arbitrum, which was announced last year and positions Arbitrum as the main blockchain infrastructure provider for Caliverse.
As part of this expanding collaboration, Lotte is also expected to receive what would be the largest-ever grant in ARB tokens from the Arbitrum Foundation. This deal remains under discussion and has yet to be finalized, according to Arbitrum executives.
Lotte Group has a history of exploring blockchain technology, having initially revealed its metaverse development plans at CES 2023. That same year, the company collaborated with Ethereum sidechain Polygon to expand its NFT initiatives.
Meanwhile, Arbitrum has steadily solidified its position as a major player in the Web3 gaming space. Last month, the project launched Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., a multiplayer shooter game that leverages blockchain to enable web3-based experiences.
In June 2024, the project unveiled a $215 million funding program to support game developers in a bid to advance the web3 gaming sector.
According to Dappradar, the blockchain currently hosts over 100 games, with the top games being CryptantCrab Prime, Zeeverse, and Overtime Markets.
